(331) GLADIATOR OF MESSALINA (1965) Umberto Lenzi directs
4837DVD
original
Italian title L'ULTIMO GLADIATORE [The Last Gladiator]
also known as MESSALINA VS SON OF HERCULES
director:
Umberto Lenzi
starring: Richard Harrison · Marilu Tolo · Philippe Hersent · Lisa Gastoni
· Livio Lorenzon · Jean Claudio
During
a territorial war in England, the Roman army [under the command of Emperor
Caligula] ravish the British survivors, killing the men and capturing
the women for Rome brothels. However, Caligula takes notice of a noble
warrior named Glaucus and - seeing him as perfect for the gladiator arena
- Caligula decides to spare his life. Glaucus is brought back to Rome,
along with other hostages including girlfriend, Ena. A short time later,
Caligula is assassinated by political rebels anxious to restore dignity
to the Roman Republic. Claudius becomes the new ruler. Messalina, the
beautiful but sinister wife of Claudius, concocts a plan to remove her
husband from the throw and replace him with her lover, Silio. Messalina
forces gladiator Glaucus to help her in this scheme by threatening harm
to the enslaved Ena.
This
was an early project for Italian director Umberto Lenzi, followed by his
spy movies (KRIMINAL,
SUPER
007, et al), giallos (SPASMO,
SECRET
KILLER, et al), crime films (MILAN
HATES CRIME
[Almost Human]) and, of course, his seminal cannibal films (DEEP
RIVER SAVAGES, EATEN
ALIVE BY CANNIBALS, CANNIBAL
FERROX). Mr Lenzi directed MEAN
TRICKS with Charles Napier before retiring from the movie business
1992. It would be his final film. After writing a series of murder mysteries
set in the 1930s and 1940s involving real-life characters of the Italian
film industry (his last novel Cuore Criminale was released
in late 2016), Umberto Lenzi died from heart failure in October 2017 at
age 86
An
Italian Film, English language version; fullscreen,
uncut (93 min.), in DVD format,
encoded for ALL REGION, playable on any American DVD machine.
Extras include original theatrical trailer
Violence/SemiNudity/Sexual
Brutality
For Mature Audiences
